Efficiency is key to a profitable restaurant, especially during peak hours. Waitlist Me’s “Capacity Utilization” feature is an advanced scheduling tool designed to solve a common headache for hosts and managers: the inefficient use of tables.

Here is a breakdown of how this feature helps businesses optimize their seating automatically.

What is Capacity Utilization?

At its core, this feature is an automated gatekeeper for your table assignments. It allows you to set “minimum party size” rules for specific tables. When a customer schedules a reservation online, the system checks these rules in real-time to ensure that small parties don’t block large tables.

Key Benefits:

1. Prevent Inefficient Seating: Stops a party of two from booking an eight-top, saving that inventory for larger, more profitable groups.
2. Reduce Manual Work: Hosts no longer need to play “table Tetris” or manually intervene to move reservations around; the system assigns the best-fit table automatically.
3. Smart Self-Scheduling: If the only tables available are too large for a requested party size (based on your rules), the system will simply hide that time slot from the customer, preventing a bad booking before it happens.

How It Works in Practice

Imagine a busy Friday night between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM. You have two large tables (Table 1 and Table 2) that fit up to 8 people, but you’ve set a rule that they require a minimum of 5 guests.

1. Scenario A: A customer tries to book for 5 people. The system sees Table 1 is free and fits the criteria, so it instantly confirms the booking and assigns them to Table 1.
2. Scenario B: A second customer tries to book for 2 people. The system checks the inventory. While a large table is free, the customer does not meet the “minimum party size” rule. The system shows no availability for that time slot, preserving your large tables for big groups.
3. Scenario C: A third customer tries to book for 8 people. The system sees Table 1 is taken but Table 2 is free, so it assigns them to Table 2.

Why You Should Use It

This feature is ideal for restaurants with predictable table layouts who want to “set it and forget it.” By automating these decisions, you protect your revenue-generating large tables, stabilize kitchen flow, and ensure your staff can focus on service rather than reservation management.

Running a busy restaurant is a balancing act. You want to fill every seat, but you also need to keep your best tables open for VIPs or ensure your staff isn’t overwhelmed by a sudden rush in one single section. Our new Availability and Priority feature gives you the tools to automate your seating strategy exactly how you want it.

Control Your Online Bookings

Not every table needs to be available for online booking. With the Availability setting, you decide which tables the system can auto-assign to self-service customers and which ones you want to hold back for walk-ins or special manual assignments. It’s the easiest way to protect your “power tables” or manage capacity during peak shifts.

Smart Auto-Assignment

When a reservation comes in, who gets the best seat? With Priority, you set the rules.

• Priority 1 tables are filled first.
• Higher numbers act as a fallback.
• Priority 0 keeps tables hidden until every other option is exhausted.

Strategies That Work

Whether you want to fill your most popular window seats first, keep a section clear for a private event, or spread guests evenly across the room to balance the workload for your servers, this feature handles the logic for you.

Getting Started

Ready to optimize your seating? Just head to Account → Settings → Availability and Scheduling → Advanced Scheduling Rules to start setting your priorities.

WiggleWorks kids is a popular destination for children and their families, being the only indoor playground that caters strictly to kids who are 48-inches tall or less. Weekends can be very busy, and Waitlist Me helps WiggleWorks kids reduce wait times, increase the number of kids they serve, and make parents happier.

WiggleWorks kids provides soft, moveable, interactive play equipment for children at its two Washington State locations, one each in the towns of Bellevue and Puyallop. The equipment is used to help children build motor skills and the unstructured play area gives them an opportunity for social interaction with children their own age.

“We limit the number of children who can play at one time and we are first come, first serve. There was no way for someone to get on the waiting list unless they called in or came into the store,” said Bellevue store manager, Kristen Deskin. “We had a lot of complaints about our wait list system because there were opportunities for a lot of user error and it often got confusing.”

That confusion was compounded by the fact that employees were responsible for taking down names and phone numbers, which were sometimes misprinted or missing key letters or numbers. Troubled by the many customer complaints, Deskin and her team looked for a better way to manage their waitlist. In 2013, they turned to WaitList Me.

“When we launched Waitlist Me we immediately felt more in control of our waitlist and felt like we had more opportunities to serve the public. This is because we could accommodate the number of people wanting to get on the list,” Deskin said. “It also has freed up an employee because they are no longer tied to taking names.”

Deskin likes how WaitList Me is easy to use and provides a simple way to keep track of store waitlists and whether customers walk in or add their name from home through the WiggleWorks kids website.  Since making the switch, customers have been happier and are more excited to come into the locations.

“We have had wait times of up to two hours in the past and WaitList Me has reduced those times so no one waits now for more than 45 minutes to an hour,” Deskin said. “I also use it to see and track how many children are coming back into play after waiting compared to how many names we are having to delete. That was one big improvement I was able to track that enabled me to make some good business decisions with the owner.”

– By Valerie Killifer, special to WaitList Me

Rates of stress, depression, and anxiety have only increased across the globe thanks to a variety of factors, from work to politics to personal matters. And guess what? Most people aren’t actively working to alleviate the causes of their symptoms. That means that on a good day, one out of every two people walking through your door is one big stress mess. Yikes.

What does all that mean for you and your business? Nothing good. Stress, anxiety, and depression…

• Encourage customers to stay home
• Turn people into penny-pinchers
• Make them put off maintenance-type appointments, like healthcare and car servicing appointments
• Prevent guests from enjoying themselves when they do go out

Sure, you can’t eliminate the sources of their stress. However, you can make your place of business into more of a refuge from the stress of their everyday life. Keep reading for tips on how you, as a business owner or manager, can help your customers stress less.

Rearrange your space

No one wants to be in the way. Unfortunately, if you haven’t thoughtfully designed your waiting area layout with your waiting customers in mind, chances are someone will be.

To solve this problem, spend some time watching the way your guests use the space you’ve given them. Where do they tend to stand? Where do they most frequently sit? What space isn’t being utilized? When do people look awkward or uncomfortable? Then, change up your waiting room’s layout based on those observations.

Offer up directions

The momentary panic of walking into a new destination and having no clue where you should go or who you need to check in with or what the heck is going on is real. That same panic sends adrenaline coursing through your veins, which elevates your stress levels and dings the effectiveness of your immune system—all because there was no clear signage!

Forget that. Ensure your guests know what to expect and where to go when they arrive if there isn’t someone to greet them. A sign on the door or on a placard placed in the entranceway or by a check-in desk or kiosk is an excellent improvement.

Turn down the volume.

You don’t have to run a spa to provide your guests with a calmer experience when they walk inside. If your business is in a busy area, consider window coverings that will dampen the sound of outside traffic. If you receive a lot of phone calls, try switching your desk attendant to a headset or using flashing lights rather than a loud ringer.

Also: ditch clocks that audibly tick, oil squeaky door hinges, and put felt pads on the feet of screeching metal chairs.

Change the channel

If your waiting area includes televisions, select programming that’s more likely to take your customers’ attention off whatever is worrying them. Instead of news, finance, or health-related shows, go with lighter fare. Think: home design, cooking shows, or sitcom reruns.

Radio more your style? The faster the music is, the more stress it will cause your guests. Instead of more jarring pop hits or dance beats, go with oldies, singer-songwriters, or classical music.

Rework your waiting system

Want your guests to enjoy every minute in your place of business? Looking to prioritize their needs and prove that you’re really listening to them? Seeking to cut walk-outs and improve the overall efficiency of your enterprise?

We developed Waitlist Me to help you hit all these goals. Waitlist Me is a free app that lets you manage your waitlist and reservations better. It lets you notify guests by text when they’ve reached the front of the line, eliminating the fear that they’ve missed their moment. It also lets you take notes on their special requirements or concerns, so you can make sure they aren’t forgotten.

And that’s just the beginning! Our full set of Premium and Pro features are crafted to give your customers the best experience possible, all while helping you run a better, faster, more cost-effective business. Decrease customer stress, make more money—how does that sound? Answer: Awesome!

‘Tis the season for fresh powder and freezing temperatures. This winter, ski towns across America are riding high on the sort of snowfall that would make Frosty proud. As the inches accumulate—and ski bunnies flock in droves—the small businesses that keep these high-altitude towns running are awash in customers.

How are they turning out consistently excellent customer service? They’re downloading Waitlist Me, the intuitive waitlist and reservation app designed for restaurants, retailers, and all sorts of businesses in-between. The service makes interacting with your customers a cinch from the first day the slopes open to the very last snowfall.

Not sure how your business can use Waitlist Me to improve customer service and make overall operations more efficient? Take a peek at how these winter businesses are leveraging the app to win over customers and boost their bottom line.

Food and beverage businesses

From fine dining to dive bars, American ski towns are awash with excellent eateries. Here’s how businesses are using Waitlist Me to score customer service points:

– Wrangling the queue for a popular downtown bar

– Managing the constant waitlist at a teensy locavore dining hot spot

– Arranging behind-the-scenes tours and tastings at a brewery

– Letting guests sip wine while they wait for a table

– Squeezing in a pre-run breakfast 

Resorts and hospitality-focused establishments

No matter how visitors are spending their days, they all have one thing in common: They require some serious rest-and-relaxation. Here’s how an assortment of hospitality businesses use the app to help their guests chill out:

– Booking private, slope-view hot tubs at a resort spa

– Scheduling a moment of zen with yoga classes

– Offering walk-in appointments for chair massages

– Reserving luxe recovery amenities

Retailers and recreational outfits

Niche small businesses are what turn tiny towns into delightful vacation spots. Waitlist Me enables business owners to deliver spectacular service to their customers and clientele. Here’s how they’re using it:

– Prep for incoming customers at a bike rental shop 

– Arranging private tours for parties large and small at a historical site 

– Booking beginner spots in ski school 

– Saddling up for sleigh rides 

– Scoring space on a slopes-bound shuttle 

– Fitting skis and gear on newbies at a shop 

Want to see how your business can benefit as well? Contact us for a free trial and see how Waitlist Me can change business-as-usual for you today!